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The Documentary: Black girls don't swim

Members of the Howard University women/s swimming team

06/08/2019 GMT

Black girls don't swim

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Black girls don't swim

Does hair stop black girls from getting into the water?

Seren Jones swam competitively for 13 years in the UK and in the US collegiate system. But in that time she only ever saw six other black girls in the pool. Why so few? A survey published by the University of Memphis and USA Swimming found that black respondents were significantly more concerned about getting their hair wet, and about the negative impact of chemicals on their appearances, than white respondents.
 
In this programme Seren explores whether maintaining ‘good’ hair really is the leading factor behind why black women don’t take part in competitive swimming…. And what, if anything, is being done about it.

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